Official Release

On Tuesday, February 21, "The King" Richard Petty will spend a day at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn. Petty, the seven-time Daytona 500 champion and current owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, will promote the upcoming running of the "Great American Race," the Daytona 500. Petty is the perfect guest; he holds the record for the most wins in the most prestigious NASCAR race, and is one of the sport's leading ambassadors.

Roush Fenway Racing and NASCAR will officially kick off the 2017 season when 42 cars line up to compete for the front row of the world’s most famous race at Daytona 500 Pole Day. Roush Fenway Cup drivers Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will each look to take home the fastest lap, after posting strong efforts in Friday’s practice session.

For the second consecutive year, Chase Elliot put the No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet SS on the pole for the season-opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Daytona 500. With a lap of 46.663 seconds/192.872 mph, the 2016 Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year, claimed his third career pole.

TOYOTA QUOTES - MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER BOATS Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing - Qualified: 5th - How was your car in qualifying? “It was good, we really had no idea what we were going to have today with our Bass Pro Shops Toyota – really proud of that effort and really proud of the whole team."

Joey Logano emerged from a wild last lap Sunday to win the Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway in the first NASCAR competition of the year on the famed 2.5-mile tri-oval.

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA CHEVROLET SS – Daytona 500 Pole Sitter - TALK ABOUT WINNING THE POLE FOR THE DAYTONA 500 FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR: "It is awesome. I am just really proud of everybody at our shop - the Hendrick Engine Shop; the Hendrick Chassis Shop; Hendrick Motorsports as a whole and the No. 24 team for sure. I appreciate all of their hard work. It is great to have NAPA on board this weekend."

CLINT BOWYER – No. 14 Mobil 1 Ford Fusion – “It’s a great effort, considering everything these guys have gone through all season long, switching manufacturers and everything that goes with that. That’s a lot. That’s a huge undertaking and these guys did it without fail."

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS CHEVROLET SS – POLE WINNER: CONGRATULATIONS ON BACK-TO-BACK POLES. THIS IS BIG FOR YOU. “Yeah, this is really cool. I’m just happy for our NAPA team and it’s great to have Napa on board this weekend; and a big thanks to the Hendrick engine shop and Chevrolet. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports has done a lot of work this off-season."

Alex Bowman earned a spot in the 2017 Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway by earning his first career pole at Phoenix International Speedway last season in the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS, while filling in for the injured Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The Hendrick Motorsports organization gave the ‘super sub’ the opportunity to run the 75-lap non-points race at Daytona as the 2017 season for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series got underway.

Recap: Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 SKF Ford Fusion team came within half a car length of winning the 2017 Clash at Daytona, but contact with the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin on the final lap resulted a sixth-place finish in the opening exhibition race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS). Keselowski began the race from the pole position thanks to his crew chief, Paul Wolfe, drawing the No. 1 starting spot during the random draw on Friday that set the 17-car field. Keselowski stayed out front until a lap 19 caution brought the field down pit road for tires and adjustments.